You aren't alone.

Grown up life is starting to taste funny. I went to the eye doctor the other day and paid a ridiculous amount of money for an eye exam and new (cute!) glasses. My mother used to pay for such things. And I still have to order contacts. Boo. Although I am doing pretty well managing my finances. I mean, eye care is a necessity, right?

It's also uncomfortably grown up that I have a weekday routine. I work all day, then ride the marguerite home and go to Starbucks to study for the LSAT for awhile before I'm ready to eat, shower, and sleep. The staff at the Starbucks across the street from my apartment know me embarrassingly well. In fact, I was beginning to have a bit of an awkward situation with one of the guys who works mornings. He would make my iced chai before I even reached the register. It was great until I wanted to change my drink one day. Now I avoid eye contact with him or stop at a different Starbucks if I'm not feeling like chai. But between my morning caffeine and my evening studying, it isn't unusual for me to be at Starbucks twice a day. That's a lot of quality time with me during the week. It's no wonder they know me so well.

Otherwise, I am slowly mastering adult life. I miss school (I know I'm a nerd) and randomly hanging out with all of you at 2 am, but I'm adjusting fairly well. Aside from the credit card bill I will be paying off for the next 6 months that is.

not-so-happy meal

my new resolution is never to engage in retail therapy again. while living in EBF i found it refreshingly easy to go without a single gratuitous purchase for weeks on end. but now that i'm working i get the urge to shop more often than ever, as if to validate the hours i spend in lab by purchasing a little me-time on credit. lately my hours have skyrocketed from a regular full-time week to 50-60 hours on average without extra pay. accordingly, lately my spending rivals the US government's.

is anyone else having issues? or should i stop bitching about my adult life?

i get home from work and i think, "i'm too tired to read. my eyes hurt. and it's too late to go to the beach. may as well buy a navy blue t-shirt." shopping is at once immediately gratifying and only as time consuming as you want it to be. how a 20-minute trip to target can be almost as refreshing as a day from work, i have no idea.

meanwhile i go back and forth from being suprisingly good at managing finances to sucking at life. occasionally, bank of america helps me out a little bit with the latter. i have paid out enough money in overdraft charges to feed a small country, partly because i'm a sexy renegade who doesn't conform to any pesky "terms of agreement," but mainly because my bank has the brilliant policy of issuing fees PER TRANSACTION and not per diem. what's up with that? well ms. attitude customer service lady is saying, i can overdraw by $800 and pay a one-time $35 penalty... OR i could buy a few value meals before my paycheck clears (whoops!) and be out $100 in fees.

so in an attempt to curb a potentially diagnosable habit, i picked up a hobby. starting yesterday i began a running regimen, with an end goal of 10-mile runs by the end of November. finally, something that both costs nothing and gives me something to do with my body other than drape it in isaac mizrahi collection not-so-spare time.

*manda

As if the house weren't hot enough already

Tonight is the official housewarming party for 7 Quincy Pl NE, Washington, DC 20002-2133, where I have been living for about three weeks now. All the residents are to prepare their own contribution to the hors d'oeuvres. Hammad and I went in together on some pico de gallo, Hammad made some tasty mashed potatoes, I'm making cookies and rice krispies treats. Hammad's brother Nabeel will be executing some veggie sushi, and Courtney will be preparing those little tomato slice with some mozzarella on top-things.

I think you can probably see the event listing from facebook: http://georgetown.facebook.com/event.php?eid=5705270676

It's been a gradual process of settling in, punctuated by questions over whether or not we should use the central air (and how best to keep the house cool if we don't), a two-week wait for a dining table, and several improvised window coverings. It's a cute house, though--you're all welcome to come visit! Barring that I will post photos if and when I finally get some good ones.

I started classes a week and a half ago--I'm only taking three so I can stay on top of my other tasks, which include being an RA and trying to push for more space for students in the department. I'm enjoying myself so far, but I definitely miss some of the little things about Stanford student life. Like AFS space (only for faculty and staff at Georgetown) and other computing niceties, classroom space, there not being a crucifix hanging in every classroom, so on and so forth...

No celebrity sightings but I did meet up with Cole Paulson in NYC over Labor Day weekend. He's doing an internship right now at a film production company. We went to a birthday happy hour for another ex-Stanfordite (Megan Green, who you probably got Concert Network emails from), and saw Sarrie Bourne and some other people I had met maybe once before in my life. And some happy hour--ten bucks a drink!

All right, keep shining bright everyone.

Busy, Busy

Okay, so finally I have a moment to breathe and write this post. Actually, I could be working on producing the next Oscar winning short film, Teddy Ripskin. It's sad, and it's true. I'm producing a short film for this guy called Teddy Ripskin, and before y'all's eyes get stuck from rolling back into your head I'll try to give a quick and probably very painful synopsis. A ghostly spirit enters a teddy bear and haunt the inhabitants of a house. OMG, I so don't want to produce this movie!! It's a comedy/horror and it's quite possible one of the worst script I have ever had the displeasure of reading. The director worked with my grandfather's cousin who lives in Wilmington and I sort of got stuck with helping him out. His so annoying too. He will call to tell me pointless things that I don't really even need to know. I'm putting off calling him later this week so we can go over scene numbers. I wish my name would never be associated with this project. It's sad, but I do. He wants to send the film to The Colbert Report b/c Steven Colbert is deathly afraid of bears. I wish I could warn Colbert to not watch it. Alright, enough venting about that though....

Other happenings of my exciting life? The Sharper Image takes up about 30 hrs of my week. I actually really like working there. My sales numbers have been pretty good so far and when traffic is slow during my shifts I get to sit in the massage chairs, play with Star Wars Lightsabers, and watch The Office on one of the tvs we sell on the floor. (SIDE NOTE: I just bought Season 3 on DVD and it came with a mini Dwight Schrute bobble head and my very own Dundie Award! It seriously made my day!) The people I work with are pretty cool and I get my first paycheck on Friday. I seriously can't wait. My account is super low. Now I know truly how much it sucks to pay bills. Chad Michael Murray came in the store last week with his fiance. I showed them the blood pressure cuffs, they tried out the scales and bought a stupid piece of crap robot for $120. Granted, it was probably a gift for a little kid, but it is definitely not worth what he paid for it. He was nice though, no outrageous behavior.

I've also been going to a thing called Overflow. It's a Christian worship service for college students and 20-somethings. It's a weekly reminder that I am back in the South. It's been okay so far. A little "Jesus Camp"y, but not scary. At least not yet. As soon as there is a message entitled, "Global Warming, Global Schwarming," I'm out! Haha!

I still haven't made it to the beach yet. :o( I know. So lame! I live like 15 minutes from the ocean and haven't even seen it yet. If Teddy Ripskin wasn't in my life I could go!

I think that pretty much sums up my life right now though. I'm staying busy that's for sure! I hope everyone is doing well and keeping heads above water!